Publish at January 13 2021 Updated December 01 2022
"What about you, what do you want to do in life?"
... we are told early on to envision it and to begin to identify with possible choices. To envision a future is to picture it and already see one's image of the future. Janus, a Roman deity celebrated in January and associated with the passage of time and doors, is known for presenting the two faces of the past and the future. On the timeline, as well as on that of possibilities, Janus Clusius is the one who closes, and Janus Patulcius is the one who opens.
Based on Hazel Rose Markus and Paula Nurius's (1986) theory of "possible selves" (sois possibles), Anne-Laure de Place questions in her dissertation the levers that the figuring of one's own future actuates with regard to the ability to mobilize and to elicit action.
It is no longer just a matter of representing a goal to be achieved, but of involving oneself in a destiny of the self comparable to the embodied vision of the self in the present state.
The creators of the concept have broken it down into three components:
Two components have been retained today: "each person would possess feared and desired possible sois (SP) whose representation would be more or less expected".
Since then (in 2007), Martin Erikson has specified that the individual must feel that he or she is an actor in the future situation so that his or her image can be attached to the concept of possible self. For her work, Anne-Laure de Place retained the concept of possible selves as
"personalized and vivid representations of an individual's fears and desires for his or her future".
Of course, the construction of self is contextual and the emergence of possible selves occurs on a socio-cultural and intercultural foundation. This exposes to sources of inspiration, accessible models and mentors, and acts on the field of possibilities and access strategies, more or less open or normative - Janus Patulcius which opens or Janus Clusius which closes. Past personal experiences ground the elements of identity, self-esteem, and clarity of self-concept.
Many tools were mobilized by the research to explore possible selves. In addition to closed, open-ended questionnaires, directive, semi-structured interviews, and mixed methods, each individual can take hold of tools such as:
How do possible visions of self activate in a "working self" and play out in the ever-moving multidimensional entity that we are? And what are the consequences for motivation and performance?
To answer these questions, the author questioned in her dissertation the seven characteristics of possible selves (PS) that scientific work has shown to play a motivational and behavioral role:
In conclusion, the author points out that the "mental contrast" procedures proposed by Gabriele Oettingen are operative mobilization levers. To be invited with benevolence according to the context and history of the individuals, and the nature of the possible sois.
The best situations involve both individuals who have developed a generic success self and those who experience a setback on the occasion of a specific failure. Conversely, the generic failure self is particularly demobilizing, and the possible specific success self is less mobilizing.
Thus, it is not useful "to ask an individual to represent themselves as successful if they cannot naturally evoke this self; what is important is that they consider effective strategies for moving away from the feared self, not just avoidance behaviors."
For example, students may be asked to "visualize the next exam session (generic SP), imagine taking the test they most dread (specific SP), or simply say what it is (control condition)."
"When faced with an individual who looks at a future self in a particularly positive light, we will help them imagine the behaviors necessary to achieve it, but we will also remind them of the obstacles they may encounter along the way, so that they can develop the appropriate strategies even in that eventuality."
"The future is only the present to be put in order." Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
Image source: Pixabay - Contescu Teodor
Anne-Laure de Place, Motivational power of possible selves and performance regulation: the role of equilibrium and elaboration, PhD dissertation in psychology, University of Rennes 2, 2018 (dissertation available at HAL, open archives).
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